Reconstruction:Proto-Yoruboid/ɔ́-kà

This Proto-Yoruboid entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Yoruboid

Etymology

Ultimately reconstructed to Proto-Volta-Congo *-ka. Likely a much younger term since it is not found outside of Volta-Congo while sorghum is one of the oldest domesticated crops in the region, having agricultural records since 8000 B.C. See Proto-Ebira "*àkwʊ́", Igbo ọkà (“corn”), (Proto-Edoid *ɔ́kà, see Yekhee ọ̀ka (“corn”), Urhobo ọ́ka (“corn”), Edo ọ́ka (“corn”)), Ayere ɛkà, and perhaps Nupe èkwa (“type of food made from guinea corn”). In its descendant languages and also descendants of other fellow proto-languages of Volta Niger-Congo, the word also began to be used for the plant maize when it arrived to West Africa, likely because it occupied (and in most places, replaced) its place in many dishes and in agriculture.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɔ́.kà/

Noun

*ɔ́-kà

sorghum, specifically the plant Sorghum bicolor

Descendants

Igala: ọ́kà (“millet”)
Yoruba: ọkà (“sorghum, corn”)
Central Yoruba: ẹkà (“corn”)
Olukumi: ọkà (“corn”)

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